Readers Respond

The American Lung Association in Maryland applauds Maryland legislators for taking steps to significantly reduce youth tobacco use and save lives by introducing legislation to raise the minimum sales age of all tobacco products to 21 years old (“Tobacco at 21,” Feb. 20). In the American Lung Association’s...

In his commentary, Raymond Daniel Burke posits that “No leadership has emerged with the capacity to combat our epidemic of violence” (“Mass shootings and mass marketing: America’s gun culture,” Feb. 16). I disagree. He crabs about the country being awash in guns. The country is awash in automobiles...

Here we go again. One sad, alienated individual armed with a legally purchased semi-automatic weapon wreaks havoc upon a community, in this case of school children, in the case of Las Vegas, concert-goers, ad infinitum, and in all cases with the rest of us as there but for the grace of God or circumstance...

The Parkland school tragedy reminds us that when drunk driving deaths became intolerable, a group of Texas women formed Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD). State by state, MADD advocates influenced new and strengthened laws against drunk driving. The tide of public opinion was turned, and none...

I write this letter in support of Baltimore City Council’s legislation to prohibit the expansion of Baltimore City’s two existing crude oil terminals and any new ones so as to minimize crude-by-rail trafficking through local neighborhoods (“Baltimore council members propose ban on new crude oil...

Harford County Council President Richard Slutsky did the public a disservice by wrongly denying the reality of the climate crisis (“Harford council president says he’s a human climate change denier,” Feb. 15). Despite his four decades as educator, he gets an "F" for his homework. He dismissed the...

Op-Eds

The soaring cost of prescription drugs is among the greatest drivers in rising rates for Maryland insurance premiums, according to CareFirst CEO Chet Burrell. And, coupled with our aging population, it’s likely to propel health care spending in the U.S. to a record-breaking one-fifth of the economy...

Recently, a Dumbarton Middle school student made a series of poor choices on a bus ride home from school, involving violence and a knife. Thankfully, no one was injured, and all the children arrived home safely. I empathize with all the families involved. As a parent of two Dumbarton students,...

One of the most congested parts of the United States is the greater Baltimore/Washington, D.C., area. Traffic and population density is so intense in some parts of this vast metropolitan area that it is known as one of the half dozen or so major “megalopolis” areas in the nation. Pollution — including...

When Donald Trump and his followers refer to "America," what do they mean? Some see a country of white, English-speaking Christians. Others want a land inhabited by self-seeking individuals free to accumulate as much money and power as possible, who pay taxes only to protect their assets from criminals...

There is a battle taking place at the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, and it is not about sports. The United States and North Korea are locked in a struggle over who controls the narrative on human rights abuses in the reclusive regime, for which neither will win, but many will lose....

Editorials

Our view: The Metro debacle — and questions about safety standards — warrant third-party review of how MTA oversees Baltimore’s temporarily shuttered subway Baltimore’s Metro riders should be forgiven if they’re feeling a little testy these days. Not only did the subway system get shut down suddenly...

If the Baltimore County School Board wanted to conduct a national search for a new superintendent to start this summer, it should have done so last fall. It takes time to do such a search properly, and because of the schedule of the academic calendar, that is the time of year when quality candidates...

If the Trump administration’s goal was to increase the ranks of the uninsured, it could scarcely have thought of a better policy than the one it announced Tuesday, in which it expands the short-term insurance plans that are exempt from Affordable Care Act standards. In one stroke, it found a way...

Mass shootings in the United States follow a predictable pattern. First there is the shock and outrage, then there are proposals to restrict access to firearms, and then there is the inevitable nothingness of lawmakers sitting on their hands and pleasing their NRA masters. After Newtown, there...

The argument City Solicitor Andre Davis and the Baltimore police union had this month about the city’s policy on paying punitive damages in civil cases when officers are found to have acted with malice is altogether different from the one he raised last week about whether the city should pay any...

More Letters to the Editor

Dels. Maggie McIntosh and Shelley Hettleman write in an op-ed that when they go knocking on doors, they are asked what are they doing to protect Maryland from the Trump administration. Upon this laughable premise, they maintain that the $1 million slush fund that they and their fellow Democrats...

In response to the commentary, "Lice in the Chipmunks’ class, one dad’s story" (Feb. 12), I have a lot of compassion for this family's lice ordeal. First, I want to give this dad a loud shout-out for writing publicly about lice and not furthering their stigma. The good news is lice are not a real...

Florida Gov. Rick Scott's, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio's and President Donald Trump's "prayers and condolences" are part of the very "evil" that Governor Scott identified at his TV news conference as being at the heart of school shootings (“Trump addresses Florida high school shooting without mentioning...

A reader urges Sen. Ben Cardin to support the views of his constituents and oppose the Iran nuclear agreement (“Cardin should stick to his opposition to the Iran deal,” Feb. 13). I am a Cardin constituent who vigorously supports that agreement that has successfully stopped Iran from developing...

Being a hearing-impaired person myself, I read with great interest the commentary by Kim Flyr (“A man’s hearing problem renders others blind,” Feb. 13). This is a "silent disability" and many times it is hard to navigate the world. One can feel like others think you are unfriendly, which has happened...

A recent letter writer in a screed against public transit cajoles transit riders to "take responsibility" and stop whining because transit fares are too low (“Stop whining, transit riders,” Feb. 13). I don't know what form this responsibility takes in his entitled suburban outlook. I know if all...